USB wireless adaptor (802.11g)

[Larry Grover]

Shu Hung (Koala) wrote:
> On 3/7/06, Larry Grover <lgrover at zoominternet.net> wrote:
> 
>> Shu Hung (Koala) wrote:
>>> Hello,
>>>
>>> I'm planning to buy a USB wireless adaptor
>>> for my laptop but hesitated. I don't know
>>> what model should I go for and how exactly
>>> should I deploy the adaptor.
>>>
>>> Any suggestion on adaptor's model?
>>> Any good documentation on installation?
>>> (It would be great if the adaptor JUST WORK
>>> with ubuntu)
>>>
>>>
>>> Thanks,
>>> Koala Yeung
>>>
>> I bought a usb wireless adapter just a couple of weeks ago.  It was not
>> easy to decide what to buy.  Wireless usb support in the linux kernel
>> seems rather patchy.  I needed a device with a native linux driver
>> (ndiswrapper was not an option), and the manufacturers certainly do not
>> make it easy to figure out what chipsets they use in their products.
>>
>> I started with this wiki page:
>>
>> https://wiki.ubuntu.com/HardwareSupportComponentsWirelessNetworkCards?action=show&redirect=WirelessNetworkCards
>> There is a section on wireless usb adapters near the bottom of the page.
>>
>> Unfortunately, I couldn't find any of the adapters listed on the wiki
>> page.  But while I was searching for a supplier for one of them, I came
>> across this page, for the Prismiq WUA-11G sold by Newegg:
>> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16833198003
>> There are two customer reviews on this page, and they both said it
>> worked on their linux systems, so I took a gamble and ordered one.  I
>> was very pleased to find out that it did, in fact, "just work", at least
>> on the two systems I tested it on:  powerpc (iBook) running
>> ubuntu-dapper and and x86 system running breezy.
>>
>> The Prismiq WUA-11G uses a zd1211 chip, so I imagine any wireless usb
>> adapter using this chip should also work.  There is a list of devices
>> using this chip here:  http://zd1211.ath.cx/
>>
>> Regards,
>> Larry
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks for your suggestion.
> I'll try to buy one in Hong Kong.
> Prismiq is rare in HK and I hope I can find one.
> 
> Thanks,
> Koala
> 


The zd1211 web page lists several other wireless usb adapters using the 
same chipset.  They should work as well as the Prismiq adapter I have. 
Perhaps one of these will be easier for you to find?

Regards,
Larry